Working weekend hodgepodge…

Sgt. Pepper's turned 40 on the first of June

Got a couple of reactions to the image of the Moldovan policeman slapping that kozol in the bar at the train station bar which I wrote about here several days ago. They thought that the interesting thing was the actual slapping rather than any issues of dealing with his wife/girlfriend's social frivolity. Maybe they were thinking police brutality straight away in anything even remotely connected to the former Soviet Union. If this is the case, yes, I will admit that I have seen cops get physical with people here a number of times. I will still hold my ground though that they are no different from anybody's cops anywhere in the world. Justice is as justice does, as Forrest Gump might say. For myself, I have only had it happen once. This was like on my first day here or very close to it way back in February of 2002. It was not that big of a deal. I was coming out of the Club Nymph, which was at the time the only pool bar in town; we now have three. I don't even know why the guy was angry at me really. Something about a girl or whatever. He just showed me his stick and said some words. My friend told me that I really ought to be terrified but for some reason I wasn't. Maybe this is what pissed him off. I was just walking away and kept shrugging and saying that he didn't seem to need to pursue it. I think he wanted me to offer him a reason but in factual truth, I couldn't think of one. I remember writing something about this later and thinking that yes, they were tough guys. This was the popular theme around here anyway.

But that Moldovan business was kind of weird really now that I am thinking about it. That guy was really complaining in an oblique way about the misery his girl was putting him through, which is to say that he was not attacking me personally, or even the woman really, but rather how miserable he was at that moment because of her. Sort of making his complaint to the room. Actually, it was probably even just to the walls because nobody really wanted to deal with him. I am really fighting to remember this right now. But he was just standing there saying "Hey, look at me; I am a perfect example of a man who is being made a fool of by a woman" which is a reasonable ting to be annoyed about. The problem was that the people in the room could already see what was happening and his complaining seemed to justify in everyone's mind why he was in that position in the first place.

And then enter that cop. I don't remember the initial confrontation but I believe the cop was walking past him and shaking his head as in "You really have a nice set of horns on you, buddy." Maybe the kozol made some reaction or touched or even pushed the cop. Or maybe he just stood up as if he would hit the cop. But he must have done something and the cop reacted by both showing him his badge or something from his wallet, which was an act of demonstrating his authority. And it worked because the kozol seemed to feel it straight off and in fact started to cry right then and there. And this is when the cop slapped him. I remember he took the slapping as if it was just one more shade of misery to be received from his over-all situation and basically went limp. The cop did not follow up with any fines, but rather just told him to sit down and take it like a man.

As for me, I was just in the lending library. I wasn't even going to be there when they finally got me on the next train back. And if you want to criticize me about my taste in women, well, IF a woman is going to actually ruin a man, obviously she would have had to have had the stuff to do it. And believe me, she did.

Of all gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she had to come into mine…"

And as far as my own lack of moral fortitude in this moment, about being polite to my fellow man, I would swear in court on a stack of bibles that I at least said that we should acknowledge the boyfriend but Ilse waved me off as being foolish. "Do not bother worry for him; he does this to himself." Was her advise. This, just before we went back to serious cooing.

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If you have never read them, go have a look at both the Political Yen/Yang blog and the new DIVINE DEMOCRAT Blog. Both have right now tributes to the fortieth anniversary of the issuing of Sgt. Pepper's. I am not that many years older than this date. I am more of a cusper than a boomer; young enough to hate the economic damage but too old to appreciate rave. But I am a Beatles fan like everyone else in the world and these two Liberal Demo Blogs have no problem getting nostalgic for the "long and winding road" back to younger, freer, more idealistic times.

***

Right at this moment I am off to the synagogue (again?) in a few moments. The occasion is a visit by the Karliner Rebbe. I have spoken to the great man and am glad to have learned enough at the Beis Aharon Synagogue to understand the importance of a visit. I actually have become a bit less involved lately and to tell the truth, I like it better this way. But on the other hand, one needs to give respect where respect is due. The last time the Rebbe came to town I was late and missed his speech. This time I intend to make every effort to listen in on the words. I'll probably cover the event tomnorrow.

***

And as a final bit of news, Egor and I have acquired a shared bike. I found through a local seller a reasonable ride; not great, but workable. The bike is hard in the front and to the rear, but the money saved on bells and whistles went into the changers and the breaks. So it is practical and fixable and the kid likes it, so I guess this is what it is all about. As for the size difference, I got this cool gadget that allows the seat post to go up and down at will, and this allows both he and I to ride comfortably. Have not yet got a set for Anya yet, but it will come soon.

And in case you are wondering where we got the money, the answer is that it was from Egor's bio father and not from me. He had sent $100 to Egor a month or so ago exactly for the purposes of getting some new wheels. We had not pulled the trigger yet because the sorts of bikes Egor wanted were all more than the $100 he had. We had been waiting for him to sell his old bike for a few extra dollars but since I started to fall apart physically and mentally from lack of road time, I worked out the deal to pick up the tail end (and have a better say in what bike we buy). So now we split it with me now able again to do err ends and make my morning turn around town and Egor gets to tear it up with his friends in the afternoons. And, our deal also has a clause in which says that if I ever get my hands on my old Schwinn, Egor gets the Pink slip outright.

Not great but good enough. At least I am rolling again and this is the most important thing.

I wrote the news today oh boy
About an unlucky man who wouldn't pay
The bloggers called him being had
It might be it worth the look
Maybe read the book…

The Polaks hit him with a car
They didn't notice that the world had changed
Crowds of people stopped going there
They've heard this case before
Now they really know for sure how full of shit the Polish are…


More soon…